University Press of Kansas Blog

Niko Pfund

This is University Press Week, a time to understand the important role of our not-for-profit scholarly publishers. One need only look at the most recent catalog of books published by the University Press of Kansas (and our many sister presses) to see that university presses are publishing exciting, thoughtful books that help lead us closer to wisdom in so many areas of human endeavor. Some of what we publish is, as Niko Pfund stated in The Scholarly Kitchen, “intra-tribal publications” that are written by and for scholars. Other books are efforts to reach outside the academy and bring the best insights of our scholars to bear on the challenges we all face. While we must deal with rapidly changing technology, dramatic alterations in the way books are bought and sold, and the challenges of funding that face higher education, all of us in university press publishing are united in our desire to overcome these challenges and continue to publish exciting writing and ideas for scholars and the general public. And I think we are doing this better now than ever.